Remember all the crap NBC’s Today show received for initially refusing to let gay couples compete in its wedding contest? Now the French eBay is in a similar row after offering a couple the chance to live rent-free in an eBay-paid apartment if they buy all their home furnishings through the site. But no gays allowed.

So say the rules: “Entrants can be any two people, one of whom must be a male adult and the other a female adult.” Heh. “Any two people” means you don’t even have to be a romantic couple, just flatmates.

Gay rights groups have accused the website of homophobia and discrimination for excluding non-heterosexuals from the competition. The pro-gay website Citegay wrote: “Gay and lesbian couples have been told they are not allowed to take part. “It is as if eBay does not want to associate itself with gay men or women.”

But that’s so not true, insists eBay: “We don’t want to limit what the competition winners will buy to one gender or another,” says a spokesman. “We haven’t stated that homosexuals are banned from entering. Sexuality never even entered into our thinking. We never meant to offend the gay community. The competition is also open to say, a mother and son, or a couple of friends. But besides, it should also be noted that the apartment they will share only has one bedroom.”

Uh, what does eBay think? That gay couples live in separate rooms because even we are disgusted by how we have sex? Oh, sorry Mary and Fritz. (I forgot one of my best lesbian couple friends lives exactly that way.) [Telegraph]